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As we continue our Journey Summer Staff introductions, it is important that you know how vital of a role these summer staff members will be playing in the lives of the interns. They will be raising support, sacrificing another two months away from home, and will serve the interns throughout the entire summer. We deeply value their sacrifice, and are truly humbled by their desire to journey with us again. With that being said, the next Summer Staff member is Ben Pertl. Ben was a Journey intern in 2012, and is a true fountain of wisdom. Ben listens so well, and I know that he will be a true source of encouragement for the guys he will be leading this summer. I love what the Lord did in Ben's heart during Journey, and I can't wait to watch him serve alongside Brantley this summer!
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Hello from southern Illinois! I'm Ben Pertl. By the time Journey starts I'll have graduated from Eastern Illinois University with a degree in Psychology and a kind of minor in Public Relations and History. It's complicated. Part of the beauty that is God is the simple fact that there is never a "done". As an intern in 2012, I was thrust into a crazy whirlwind of foreign insanity, but God whispered the calm in the middle of that storm. The works that He begins don't end when a plane returns to America or when you leave Atlanta, or when you graduate. I'm coming back because God says, "Here, take what you know, and take what I've given you, and then keep moving." For me, "keep moving" means a return to Kenya as summer staff, and let me tell you, it's a beautiful Journey. As a youth director in Illinois, I'm exposed daily to kids just beginning to explore the adventure that is God's story for them. I'm beyond excited to be able to play a part on a grander scale with these students and to see them see God in an entirely new way. If you ask any of the CTI staff, you'll hear that I like to know what's going on; I like to be in the loop. But God tells us to let tomorrow worry about tomorrow. And whether or not that tomorrow involves getting up and going to Spanish 1001 or getting up and stepping into a school in Kenya, HE is the only one we need calling the shots, and that is a beautiful promise. Right now you are beginning an adventure, not just as an intern, but as parents (I see you) and friends. You get to experience all that God has lined up and I can promise you that our Author is the very best there is.

2 Corinthians 1:20 assures us that "no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'YES' in Christ. And so through Him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God."

Let us say amen together as we step boldly forth in His promises, because let's face it, none deserve glory but He. Welcome to Journey.